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Mac Thornberry says W.H. cyber order will not cure-all

A presidential executive order to improve the nation’s digital defenses shouldn’t take the place of legislation, Rep. Mac Thornberry said Wednesday.

“No executive order can do what needs to be done, and no executive order can do what the legislation can do or is trying to do,” Thornberry, who led the House Cybersecurity Task Force, explained during POLITICO Pro’s P2012 Policy and Politics Defense luncheon.

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“There are some things that clearly can — and should — be done with an executive order related to the federal government’s networks and its practices, and I’m all for that,” Thornberry said, “but nobody should be under the illusion that an executive order can take the place of legislation.”

He described a potential executive order as a quick fix with the White House saying, “OK, you all couldn’t do it, so I’m going to do that for you.”

“That’s not going to be helpful. Working together, legislative and executive — and this has not been a partisan issue by the way — working together is the only way our country’s going to be prepared going ahead,” he said.